Photographic apparatus

ABSTRACT

A photographic apparatus is provided with a variable geometry lighttight chamber which is adapted to expand, as it is extended from a housing to receive a film unit being advanced therefrom, and to contract as it is retracted into the housing to transport the film unit to a storage position within the housing.

United States Patent 1 Erlichman 11 3,748,990 [4 1 July 31,1973

[ PHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUS [75] inventor: Irving Erlichmnn, Wayland, Mass.

[73] Assignee: Polaroid Corporation, Cambridge,

Mass.

22 Filed: Scpt.17,'1971 211 App]. No.: 181,408

Related [1.8. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No.178,- Jan. 2, 1970,

abandoned.

[52] US. Cl- 95/30, 95/13 [51] Int. Cl. G031! 19/10 [58] Field 01 Search95/13, 14, 19, 22,

[56] l I References Cited 1 I UNITED STATES PATENTS 641,268

1/190o Chase ..95/30 1,823,321 9/1931 Hammond 95/30 625,379 5/1899 Carns95/30 662,696 11/1900 Pratt et al. 95/30 1,066,955 7/1913 Schmuch 95/301,469,273 10/1923 Kauser 95/30 3/1949 Johnson 95/30 PrimaryExaminer--Samuel S. Matthews Assistant Exqrniner-Richard M. SheerAttorney-John S. Vale, Stanley H. Mervis et al.

57 ABSTRACT A photographic apparatus is provided with a variablegeometry lighttight chamber which is adapted to expand, as it isextended from a housing to receive a film unit being advanced therefrom,and to contract as it is retracted into the housing to transport thefilm unit to a storage position within the housing.

. 16 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures "s l 1 usas o a as E:

PAIENTEDJUI a 1 1s sum 2 or 3 p INVliN'I'OR.

- IRVING ERLICHMAN M g ng W ATTORNEYS I PHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUSCROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONField of the Invention This invention relates to'improvements inphotographic apparatus and, more particularly, to an expandable,lighttight chamber that permits movement of an exposed photosensitiveelement from an exposure position to a storage position within thephotographic apparatus without deforming the element during transit.

Photographic apparatus of the type with which the present invention isconcerned is a self-developing camera as described and shown in mycopending applications Ser. No. 763,883,'filed Sept. 30, 1968, now U.S.Pat. No. 3,589,253, Ser. No. 880,794, filed Dec. 28, 1969, now U.S. Pat.No. 3,702,580, and Ser. No. 179, filed Jan. 2, 1970, now U.S. Pat. No.3,653,308. As disclosed in the last two mentioned copendingapplications, the camera includes a housing having means therein forsupporting a film unit at an exposure plane. After exposure the filmunit is advanced through a processing station toward the exterior of thehousing. A reciprocally driven lighttight chamber, coupled to thehousing, is adapted to be extended therefrom, in the path of travel ofthe film unit, for receiving the film unit. Thereafter, the chamber isadapted to be retracted into the housing for transporting the film unitto a storage position within the camera. The general nature of the filmunit utilized'with the aboye-mentioned camera is more completelydescribed in Ser. No. 5,799,

, filed Jan. 26, 1970, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,619,192 as acontinuation-in-part of Ser. No. 622,285, filed Mar. 10, 1967, now U.S.Pat. No. 3,479,814 in the name of Edwin H. Land et al. and and assignedto the same assignee as the present invention. The film unit abovedescribed is a self-developing type utilizing a diffusion transferprocess more completely described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,415,644, issuedDec. 10, 1968, in the name of Edwin H. Land and assigned to the sameassignee as the present invention. I

The film unit previously mentioned has a format wherein a photosensitiveelement is exposed'through a transparent element held in face-to-facerelationship therewith. A container of processing composition isdisposed at one end thereof prior to exposure and, after exposure, isdistributed in'contact with the photosensitive element to initiate thedevelopment of a visible image by the diffusion transfer process. Thefilm unit utilized is one in which'the basic film structure existing Theabove-described film format is desirably relatively rigid inconstruction because the developed film unit is not later supported byany means. In addition, the developed film unit is preferably flat whendeveloped so that all areas of the laminate are coplanar with respect toall other parts. This flatness is important both from the standpoint ofease of movement to storage in the photographic apparatus and also forease of storage in the minimum volume available in the apparatus. Thisrigidity, or stiffness, is natural to the film unit herein used in thatthe transparent portion has a certain modicum of inherent rigidity, andthe photosensitive processing composition is distributed, it isdesirable I that further pressure sufficient to disturb the distributionof processing composition not be applied to any part of the film unit.In other words, if the film unit with the newly distributed processingcomposition is distorted immediately after the processing composition isdistributed, the resultant visible image could be deleteriouslyaffected. Accordingly, it is desirable that the exposed photosensitiveelement be immediately moved from the exposure-position to permit theimmediate exposing of another film unit while handlingthe previouslyexposed film unit in a manner that-will not ad- 'versely affect itsphotographic quality.

It is essential in the handling of certain types of exf posed film unitsdeveloped by the diffusion transfer process that the exposedphotosensitive element be veloped, is protected by the transparentelement. The

container that is ruptured to distribute the processing compositionremains fixed to the resulting relatively flat laminate, and therefore,no parts of the film unit as constructed prior to development areremoved after the visible image is formed.

maintained in a lighttight environment for at least some period of timeafter exposure; It is also desirable that means be provided for storingexposed film units auto- .matically so that the operator of thephotographic ap paratus can immediately expose other film units.

scribed, having as small an overall size as possible, it is proposed toutilize a film format of the type described .1

utilizing the diffusion transfer process to develop a visible image, andto provide storage apparatus for devel? oped film units while handlingexposed film units. All of the foregoing is to be accomplished while theex posed film unit is moving to a position of storage in a mannerprecluding distortion of the film unit.

The camera is designed to accept a film container housing a plurality offilm units arranged in stacked reflation therein. By virtue of the factthat each film unit has a processing fluid pod at one end, the containeris I thicker at one end than the other, or in other words, is

wedge-shaped inlongitudinal cross section. The container is insertedinto the camera housing in overlying relation to a planar bottom wall ofthe housing with the photosensitive surface of the forwardmost film unitfacing an exposure plane located above the bottom wall.

The exposure plane is preferably disposed at an inclined angle relativeto the bottom wall of the housing to accommodate the wedge-shaped filmcontainer.

ing along a linear path which is substantially parallel to the inclinedexposure plane. This causes the film unit to progressively diverge fromthe bottom wall of the camera. Thus, the reciprocally driven lighttightchamber must be sufficiently large to enclose the inclined path oftravel of the film unit without having the film unit coming into contactwith the chamber walls. Since the chamber is. configured to be retractedinto the housing for storage, it is also desirable to minimize the sizeof the chamber to reduce the overall dimensions of the camera.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is addressed to theproblem of providing a camera, of the type having an exposure planeinclined at an angle with respect to the bottom wall of the camerahousing, with a lighttight chamber which is large enough to enclose theinclined path of travel of the film unit as it is moved toward theexterior of the camera but yet is small enough to be. stored withinacompact camera housing.

The problem is solved by providing the camera with a variable geometrychamber which is configuredto progressively expand as it is extendedfrom the camera housing to receive a film unit advancing along theinclined exposure plane. The chamber is also adapted to progressivelycontract as it is retracted into the housing to facilitatestorage of thechamber within the housing.

This is accomplished by providing the chamber with expandable sidewalls. As will be described in detail hereinafter, the side walls'areformed by two cooperating members, one of which is movable along a planesubstantially parallel to the bottom wall of the housing. The othermember is movable in a plane substantially parallel to the inclinedexposure plane. The members are also movably coupled to one another suchthat they may diverge as the chamber is extended and converge as thechamber is retracted.

One of the side wall members is also coupled to means for advancing thefilm unit toward the exterior of the camera and serves to drive thechamber between its extended and retracted positions. More specifically,a relatively flat film unit includes a photosensitive element that issupported and exposed on an exposure plane and then is moved to aposition where it is subjected to a certain modicum of pressure so thata processing composition is very precisely distributed across theexposed photosensitive element. Then the exposed film unit is moved intoan expandable, lighttight chamber which permits movement of the exposedfilm unit from this 7 position in essentially a straight line path. Whenthe 'exposed film unit is moved sufficiently to clear the means providedfor distributing the processing composition, the path of movement of thefilm unit is altered so that it is adapted to move on a plane angularlydisposed with respect to the exposure plane. The point at which the pathof movement of the film unit is altered corresponds to one extreme ofmovement of the expandable, lighttight chamber where the chamberasdeveloped by the diffusion transfer process, and to move the exposedfilm unit to a storage position. Therefore, this chamber willhereinafter be termed a processing chamber.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART The prior art discloses two patents; U.S.Pat. No. 2,873,658, issued Feb. 17, 1959; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,467,320,issued Apr. 12, 1949 to E. H. Land, both of which feature a selfdeveloping camera including a lighttight chamber into which a film unitis advanced after processing. Both of these chambers are adapted to formextensions of the camera housing in which the exposure plane and supplyof film units are located. Neither camera is operative to transport thefilm unit into the housing for storage and the addition of the chambersubstantially increases the overall dimensions of the camera.

The lighttight chamber disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,467,320 hasexpandable side walls but is not adapted to be stored within the camerahousing but rather in overlying relation to the housing, again addingbulk to the camera. When the chamber is located in its stored position,the camera is inoperative since it is stored in the field of view of thecamera's optical system.

U.S. Pat. No. 641,268, issued on Jan. 16, 1900, to J. J. Chase disclosesa camera having a drawer type of lighttight chamber for receiving anexposed film unit and transporting the film unit to a storage positionwithin the camera housing.

However, the Chase camera is designed to accept flat glassphotosensitive plates that may be easily stacked in parallel relationover the bottom wall of the housing for sequential presentation at anexposure plane disposed in parallel relation to the bottom wall. Chasedoes not contend with a film unit having a relatively thick container ofprocessing fluid at one end. He does not employ an exposure plane whichis inclined with respect to the bottom wall of the camera and thereforedoes not disclose a processing chamber capable of being expanded toenclose an inclined path of travel, nor would it be obvious from histeachings to conceive-of and construct such an expandable chamber.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the presentinvention to provide an improvement in photographic apparatus thatallows an exposed photosensitive element to be moved from an exposureposition to another position within the photographic apparatus whileprecluding distortion of the exposed photosensitive element during thatmovement. I I I It is another object of the present invention to providean improvement in photographic apparatus wherein an exposedphotosensitive element is moved from the exposure plane on a pathsubstantially parallel to the exposure plane and is then pivoted toanother plane angularly disposed with respect to the exposure plane andmoved to a storage position.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide animprovement in photographic apparatus wherein an exposed photosensitiveelement is moved from an exposure plane through pressure-applyingmembers to distribute a processing composition thereacross whichincludes drive means for allowing movement of the exposed photosensitiveelement in a path substantially parallel to the exposure plane and alsoinplane on which the exposed photosensitive element is to be stored.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide animprovement in photographic apparatus wherein a reciprocable,expandable, lighttight chamber provides the advantages set forth by theprevious objects and is driven by means within the photographicapparatus for distributing processing composition across the exposedphotosensitive element and wherein the normal fixed volume of thephotographic apparatus is only temporarily increased by the inclusion ofthe expandable lighttight chamber.

, It is yet another object of the present invention to provide aphotographic apparatus including a housing having a bottom wall, anexposure plane disposed at an inclined angle relative to the bottomwall, means for. advancing an exposed film unit along a planesubstantially parallel to the inclinedexposure plane toward the exteriorof the housing; means defining an expandable lighttight chamber, andmeans coupling the chamber to the housing such thatthe-chamberprogressively expands as it is extended from the housing andprogressively contracts as it is retracted into the housing.

. Other objects of the invention will, in part, be obvious and will, inpart, appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the apparatus possessing theconstruction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts whichare exemplified in the following detailed disclosure, and the scope ofthe application of which will be indicated inthe claims. For a fullerunderstanding'of the nature and objects of the invention, referenceshould be had to the following detailed description taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION on THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the cameraof the presv ent invention shown in its folded or inoperative positionwith'the position of aprocessing chamber shown in dotted lines; v

FIG. 2 is a perspectiveview of the camera of FIG. 1 shown in its erectedor operative position withthe processing chamberv shown partiallyextended from the camera body;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the drive mechanism for theprocessing chamber;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the cameraof the subject I DETAILEDDESCRIPTIONTOF THE INVENTION Referring to FIG. 1', camera is theself-developing type and is shownin the nonerected or inoperativeposition. Camera 10 generally includes a rangefinderviewfinder housing'12, main body housing 14, lens and shutter control housing-l6, andbellows cover plates 18 and 20. An expandable drawer-type,translationally reciprocable, processing chamber 22 is shown in dottedlines in FIG. 1. Chamber 22 is shown partially extended in FIG. 2.Chamber 22 is formed by a. draweptype member 38, elongated members 72and 74, anda covering curtain 39 (See FIG. 3). The rearward portion ofdrawer 38 is open but is in the lighttight environment of camera 10.Therefore, chamber 22 is an extension of the lighttight interior ofcamera 10.

Referring to FIG. 2, camera 10 is. shown in an erected configurationwhich is the operative form of the camera. A pair of erecting links 24and a pair 26, only one shown, very precisely locate therangefinder-viewfinder housing 12 with respect to thelens and shuttercontrol housing 16. Bellows 28 maintains the exposure area of the cameraof the subject invention lighttight as later described. A more detaileddescription of the camera of the type inwhich the present invention isusefulis found in Ser. No. 763,883, now US. Pat. No. 3,589,253, aspreviously notedhThe operation of the camera will be detailed hereinonly to the extent necessary to describe the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the uppermost film unit in wedge-shaped container30 is situated on exposure to bottom wall 34 of camera main body 14. Thebottom wall of container 30 is angled with respect tothe exposure planebut parallel with respect to wall 34. Itshould also be noted thatdescriptions herein, suchas bottom, top, rear, and front, refer to anorientation of camera 10 when it is in the operative position. That isto say, the front of camera 10 is the portion facing a scene to bephotographed. However, it should be understood that the camera ofthesubject invention is operative if the orientation of the scene or ofcamera parts relative to the ground changes. I

Inclined exposure planeil32 is the-plane on which the scene to bephotographed is projected so that when the appropriate shutter mechanismis? operated, the scene is recorded on a surface of a photosensitiveelement contained in film unit 36. It is understood that all of the filmunits carried in container 30 are identical and may be of the type setforth in- Ser. No. 5,799, now U.S-. Pat. No. 3,619,192, previouslymentioned. It should be made clear that other film formats can beutilized in the operative environment of the" present invention and thatdescriptions of the operation of the particular type film unit set forthin the previously mentioned application merely typifies the type of filmunit with which the present invention is operative and useful.

Film unit 36 isfof a very simple construction and generally comprises aphotosensitive element held in faceto-face relationship with atransparent element, both elements being bound peripherally'toform aunitary structure. At one end of the film unit, adjacent the Ypressure-applying members of the subjectcamera to initiate a diffusiontransfer process that develops a visiv are available in the previouslymentioned application.

However, it is obvious that the processing composition must be spread ordistributed across the photosensitive element very precisely in order tomaintain a high quality in the developed picture. Therefore, it isimportant that provision be made in the camera previously described forhandling and storage of an exposed photosensitive element having theprocessing composition already spread-thereupon in a manner that willmini mally distort the film unit. To this end, the present invention isdirected.

Referring to FIG.4, the expandable, lighttight, processing chamber 22 isprovided into which the exposed film unit 36 is fed, as the processingcomposition is being distributed, andretained during the movement of the"exposed and processed film unit to a position of storage within thephotographic apparatus. Therefore, this lighttight chamber 22 maintainsthe exposed film unit in darkness while the diffusion transfer processis completedwith the film format herein described. The developedvisibleimage is visible through the transparent sheet, and the entire filmunitoriginally positioned in container 30 is repositioned within thecamera after processing and is there available for viewing shortlyafter'exposure. The time between exposure and viewing may be on theorder of approximately 60seconds.

That is to say, all of the components, for example, photosensitiveelement, transparent element, binding material, and empty containers ofprocessing composition, compriseth'edeveloped film unit and, hence, thefinished photograph. None of the materials of the film unit asoriginally'presented for exposure are removed from the developedfilmunit. Accordingly, it is important that thematerials of construction'ofthe film'unit itself arenot'distorted' in such a fashion as to impairthe aesthetic-qualities of the developed film unit or in a mannotadversely affecting the developing process.

Thepresent inventionfenables the movement of an exposed film unit fromthe exposure position on a'plane that is substantially parallel to theinclined exposure plane to a position from where the exposed film unitcan beeasily directed to another position within the photographicapparatus while being maintained in a distortion-freecondition. Themeans for moving the filmjunit includes the lighttight chamber 22 whichis expandable. This chamber 22 is carried by support means, in turncarried by a fixed portion of the photographic-apparatus. At least aportion of the support means is movable on a plane angularly disposedwith respect to the eiqziosureplane'and drive means areoperativelyassociatedwith the support means and movposure plane.

More specifically, and referring to FIGS. 3 and 6, drawer 38 includes abottom wall 41, dependent front endwall 116 and a pair of dependentdrawer support sidewalls 58 and 60.'The support means compriseslinear'bearing means40 and associatedsupport structure (See FIG. 6).Linear bearing means 40 generally inable on a plane substantiallyparalleltothe inclined ex- Processing rollers 62 and 64 arecontrarotatably driven together by gear 66, inturn driven through asuitable gear reduction arrangement and a motor, not shown. Pinions orgears 68 and 70 are carried at opposite ends of roller 62 and engageracks 72 and 74 respectively. Racks 72 and 74 are formed on the top edgeof elongated drive-guide members 76 and 78.-Members 76' and 78 aremirror images of one another, and, in FIG. 3, the structure aof member78 is more clearly shown. Guide 80 has an upper flange 82 and a lowerflange 84 adapted to fit around rail 86'carried by drawer-supportelement 88. Element 88 is the lower portion of camera main housing 14.Drive-guide member 76 is clinedexposure plane 32. It is against thissurface 92' that container 30 rests in lighttight relationshiptherewith. y

It should'be noted that rails 86 and 90 are inclined with respect tobottom wall 34 of housing 14 and extend on a plane which issubstantially parallel to-inclined exposure plane 32. Therefore,drive-guide members 76 and 78 move on a plane that is substantiallyparallel to inclined exposure plane 32 and racks 72 and 74 constantlyengage pinion gears 68 and70 through their movement. Further, it shouldbe noted that the opposing surfaces of rollers 62 and 64 fall on eitherside of a plane' common to the exposureplane. Therefore, a film unitdisposed on the exposure plane, .when moved between the processingrollers 62 and 64, can move toward the exterior of housing 14, in astraight line without undergoing any bending or distortion. It will benoted that the path of travel of the film unit diverges from bottom wall34 of housing 14.

Referring to FIG. 3, grooves 54 and56 extend along a line that isparallel with respect to bottom wall 34 of main housing 14 of camera 10.The plane of bottom wall 34 is angularly disposed with respect toexposure plane 32. It is along the plane of bottom wall 34 that extionedherein, refers to the movement of an exposed eludes strips 42 and balls44 trapped therein for rotational movement. Each of the strips 42 isheld in a fixed mannerwith respect to'main body with balls 44 carfilmunit from the inclined exposure plane 32:to a position in thephotographic apparatus where the developedfilm unit can be viewed. Thatis to say, the film unit is moved from the exposure plane 32 throughprocessing rollers 62 and 64 to-a point where the rearward edge of theexposed film unit clears the rollers 62 "and 64 and is free to beshifted to a plane 'angularly disposed with respect to the exposureplane by means 94 forchanging the planar disposition of the exposedphotosensitive element which will be hereinafter described. The exposedfilm unit is then moved bacl into themain housing 14 of camera 10 oncurtain 39 .which covers the bottom wall 41 of drawer38. After asuitable delay during which time a visible image develops on the exposedfilm unit, the finishedphotograph is viewable point just below the racks72 and 74'formed in elon- I gated members 76 and 78. V

- herein termed a storage position. It should be under- "stood that thismay be viewed as a temporary storage. position in that the storageis'normally ended when the finished photograph is withdrawn from chamber22. As-

hereinafter explained, the photograph can be moved to a permanentstorage position under drawer 38 by cycling the subject apparatus whenanother film unit is exposed as shown in copending application Ser. No.36,251, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,675,551.

The drive means controls movement of an exposed photosensitive elementfrom the exposure position along the .exposure plane to a first extremeof movement where the entire exposed photosensitive element has passedthe means for distributing the processing composition. The drive meansgenerally comprises the racks 72 and 74, and gears 68 and 70 alsoincludes drive pins 98 and 100. Drive pins 98'and 100icooperate withslots 102 and 104 respectively, formed in drawer side walls 58 and 60,to form a pivotable drive connection between thedrive and support means.Therefore, it becomes obvious that the drive connections of theaforementioned pins 98 and 100 and slots 102 and 104 accommodate thedifferencein planes of movement of the racks 72 and 74 relative to thedrawer 38. That is to say, drawer 38 moves along the plane defined bygrooves 54 and 56, whereas racks 72 and 74 move parallel to the exposureplane. The drive pins and slots allow for this relative angular movementby accommo dating the upward movement of drive pins 98 and 100 relativeto slots 102 and104 as the racks 72. and74 move upwardly with respect tobottom wall 34. Viewing' FIG. 3, this relative movement becomes clearerwhenviewing the angular disposition of rails 86 and 90 relative'tobottom wall 34.

As noted earlier the expandable lighttight chamber 22 is formed bydrawer 38, elongated members 76 and 78 which include racks 72 and 74,and an opaque flexible curtain '39. The bottom wall of chamber 22 isformed by the bottom wall 41 of drawer 38. The chamber side walls areformed by drawer side walls 58 and 60 in cooperative association withthe elongated members 76 and 78. As best shown in FIG. 6, drawer sidewalls 58 and 60 extend upwardly from drawer bottom wall 41. Elongatedmembers 76 and 78 are located within drawer side walls 58 and 60 inside-by-side relation therewith.

The height of chamber 22 is considered to be the vertical distance frombottom wall 41 of drawer 38 to a As the racks 72 and 74 are drivenforwardly of the processing rollers 62 and 64 by pinions 68 and 70, pins98 and 100 engage slots 102 and 104' in drawer side walls 58 and 60causing the drawer to be driven forwardly alongwith the elongatedmembers 76 and 78. Guided by the inclined rails 86'and 90-the elongatedmembers 76 and 78 move upwardly ina vertical direcmembers also move in aplane substantially parallel to drawer side walls 58 and 60. It will benoted, however, that the drawer side walls 58 and -'and the elongatedmembers 76 and 78 are dimensioned such that the lower portion of members76 -and78 overlap'the upper portion of the drawer side walls.. whenthechamber 22. is fully extended and members 76 and 78 reach their maximumvertical movement above the bottomwall41 of drawer 38. The overlappingserves to maintain the interface between members 76 and.78 and drawerside walls 58 and 60" in alighttight condition. As the chamber isretracted intohousing-l4, the-elongated members 76 and 78, again guided.by the inclined rails 86 and 90,.move downwardly towardthe bottom wall41 of drawer 38 and the bottom wall- 34 of; housing 14. Thus, it canbe'seen thatelongated members 76 and 78 are operatively associated with;drawer sidewalls 58 and 60 to form expandable, lighttight, side wallsofthe chamber 22 and that the vertical movement of the elongated membersrelative to the bottom wall 4 1' of drawer 38 serves progressively toincrease the height of chamber 22 as it is extended from housing 14' andto decrease the height of chamber 22'as it is retracted into housing,14. j I

As best shown in FIG. 3*, drawer 38' is'open at; the top and rear suchthat it may.beretracted'intohousing14 in telescoping relation with thefilm container 30. That. is to say, the bottom wall 41 of drawer 38 islocated-between the bottom wall 34'of housing 14 andthe bottomof filmcontainer 30 and the expandable side walls of the chamber 22v arepositioned 'between the side walls of container '30 and the side walls50 and 52' of housing 14. The top of chamber 22 is uncovered'when thechamber is fully retracted intohousing 14 to permitexposure of theforwardmost'film unit. As th e'chamber is extended from housing14,.inadvance-of the advancing film unit, curtain 39*coversthe open topofthe chamber tomaintain it in a lighttightcondition. Curtain: 39 isattached at one end to housing 14, forwardly of roller 62 (See FIG. 4).From there it extends forwardly and 39', reference may be made tocopending application Ser. No.

As best shown in FIG. 1 curtain 39 cooperates: with elongated members 76and 78to form the top wall of chamber 22. It also cooperates with thefront wa|l 1.16 of drawer 38 to form an expandable front wall of thechamber-22. I v I As the drawer 38 and the elongated members 76 and 78areextended'from housing 14', while progressively moving'away from oneanother, the space between the rollers 124 and 126 increases sinceroller 124 is mounted on the elongated members 76- and 78 and roller 126is secured to drawer'38; The resulting space between the top of drawerfrontwall 116 and the forl79 Jan. 2, '1970,- now U.S. Pat. No.

ward end of elongated members 76 and 78 is covered by that portion. ofcurtain 39 extending between the rollers 124 and 126. Roller 124 alsosupports curtain 39 over the top of drawer 38 and progressively elevatesthe curtain above the bottom wall 41 of the drawer to prevent the filmunit travelling along its inclined path from engaging the top wall(curtain 39) of the expandable chamber 22. Or in other words, chamber 22is adapted to expand and contract in a direction normal wardly biasedend 1120f member 106 and is wedged between flange 110 and end 112. Theangular disposition of flange 110 relative to end 1 12 in area 1 14makes it clear that a film unit entering area 114 will bebiaseddownwardly toward wall 34. As more clearly set forth in Ser. No. 5,799,now US. Pat. No. 3,619,192, previously mentioned', the portion of thefilm unit that enters area 114 is the processing composition containerarea which has previously been voided of processing composition. This isnot an area of the film unit on which an image will be portrayed.Therefore, any minor abrasion or distortion to this portion of the filmunit is not damagingto the aesthetic qualities of the photograph.However, the film unit36 is relatively rigid, and, due to the biascreated by flange 110 and end 112 when the trailing edge of the filmunit clears rollers 62 and 64, it will be pivoted downwardly to aconfiguration shown best in FIG. 4. i

OPERATION 64 which cooperate with the pickto provide means for Iadvancing the film unit toward the exterior of housing 14. The rollers62 and 64 begin to rotate in sequence after the shutter mechanism isoperated, and, therefore, gears 68 and 70 cooperate with racks 72 and 74to move the racks toward the leftas viewed in FIGS. 4 and 5. Movement ofracks 72 and 74 causes the elongated drive-guide members 76 and 78 tomove in the same direction along rails 86 and 90. Guide pins 98 and 100,carried by members 76 and 78 respectively, move drawer 38 in the samedirection due to their interengagement with slots 102 and 104.

As the exposed film unit enters the bite of rollers 62 and 64, the pickmechanism is disabled as described in the previously mentioned copendingapplication. Further movement of the film unit along exposure plane 32is due solely to the movement generated by the contrarotating rollers 62and 64. It is to be noted that rollers 62 and 64 have a circumferencethat, when combined with their rotational speed, drives the exposed filmunit along the exposure plane 32 at a faster rate of speed than gears 68and move drawer 38 so that the leading edge of the film unit mayovertake and engage the film angle changing means 94.

Referring to FIG. 5, the drawer is shown nearly fully extended by dottedlines with the film unit 36 shown in its initial contact with member106. In FIG. 4, film unit 36 is shown pivoted around the end held inarea 114 downwardly away from rollers 62 and 64 against ourtain 39. Theconfiguration of the drawer 38 shown in FIG. 4 represents the furthestextension of drawer 38 and the maximum volume of chamber 22 sincethe-side walls and the front of the chamber 22 are fullyexpanded.

When drawer 38 is at this point, the motor, not shown, is reversed so asto reverse the rotation of rollers '62 and 64 along with appending gears68 and 70. From this point chamber 22 is retracted into housing 14causing the side walls 'and the front wall of the chamber to contractsuch that the chamber assumes its minimum volume when fully retractedinto the housing As chamber 22 is retracted, member 106 is drivendownwardly by two spring elements 120, only one shown, which engagemember 106 at its lateral extremes so that film unit-36 passestherebetween. As drawer 38 moves further back into the camera 10, filmunit 36 is guided beneath container 30 by deflector 122. Deflector 122precludes the possibility of film unit 36 coming into interference withthe front edge of container 30. Therefore, film unit 36 is subjected tothe very minimumamount of bending as it is fed beneath container 30 asspring elements progressively feed means 94 in the direction of curtain39.

When drawer 38 has reassumed the position shown in FIG. 6 in solidlines, theifilm unit is positioned almost entirely beneath container 30and power is shut off to the motor, not shown, to prevent furthermovement of the associated support or drive, means. This is the storedposition for the exposed film unit, and it is from this position thatthe film unit can be manually reached for viewing as morecompletelyIdescribed in my copending application Ser. No. 36,251 now US.Pat. No. 3,675,551, previously mentioned.

Therefore, means have been provided for moving the expandable lighttightchamber 22 out of the main camera housing 14 in such a fashion that anexposed photosensitive element is moved from the inclined exposureposition to another position within the photographic apparatus whilebeing maintained in a distortion-free condition. Specifically, supportmeans are carried by a fixed portion of the photographic apparatus andmovable on a plane angularly disposed with respect to the exposureplane. Drive means are operatively associated with the support means andmovable on a plane substantially parallel to the exposure plane. Theentire range of movement of the exposed film unit is accomplished whilethe film unit remains in a lighttight environment, enabling thesimultaneous development of the-exposed unit. The total time involved inmoving the film unit from the exposure plane to the storage position canbe on the order of approximately 1% seconds. The time for developing theexposed film unit may be on the order of 60 seconds. If the film unitutilized is one developed after being chemically opacified, the

film unit can be immediately removed or viewed from its temporarystorage position. If the film unit is one utilizing more conventionaldeveloping techniques, a delay is necessitated after the exposedfilmunit reaches the temporary storage position. A suitable timing devicecan be used to determine the length of time neces sary for the film unitto remain in temporary storage or automatic means can be.,provided'withthe. subject intained in the above description or shown in theaccornvpanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative andnot in alimiting sense.

What is claimed is: 1. A photographic apparatus comprising: a housingincluding a bottom wall; means for supporting a film unit within saidh'ousing at an exposure plane disposed at an inclined angle relative tosaid bottom wall; r means for advancing a filmunit, subsequent toexposure, along said inclined exposure plane toward the exteriorof saidhousing; means for defining an expandable lighttight chamber.

adapted to be extended from said housing; for, re-

ceiving a film unit from said advancing means and.

thereafter to be retracted into said housing for I transporting a filmunit therewithto a storage position-"within said housing; and

means coupling said expandable chamber to said- 2. A photographicapparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the volume of said chamber is ata maximum 5. A photographic apparatus as defined in claim 4 wherein saidchamber is configured to further include an expandable front wall.

6. A photographic apparatus comprising:

a housing including a bottom wall;

' means for supporting a film unit within said housing at an exposureplane disposed at an inclined angle relative to said bottom wall;

means for advancing a film unit, subsequent to exposure, along saidinclined exposure plane toward the exterior of said housing;

means for defining an expandable lighttight chamber adapted to beextended from said housing for receiving a film unit from said advancingmeansand thereafter to be retracted into said housing. for transportinga film unit therewith to a storage posi- 14 tion within said housing,said means for. defining said expandable lighttight chamber including adrawer coupled to said housing for movement along a planesubstantially'p'arallel to said bottom wall of said housing andvelongated members coupled to said housing for movement alongaplanesubstantially parallel to" said inclined. exposure plane, said"elongated: members being operatively associated with said drawer to formexpandable side walls of said chamber; and

means coupling said expandable; chamber tosaid housing such that itprogressively expands'as it is extended from said housing to enclose theinclined path of travel of said film unit, and progressively. contractsas it is retracted into saidghousing'tofacilitate storage of saidchamber within saidv housing. 7; A photographic apparatus as definedintclaim 6 wherein said means for defining said expandable light-- tightchamber further includes an: opaquecurtain supported over said drawer,said curtain being; coiipled to said elongated members which areoperative to: vary the distance between said curtain-and said drawer assaid drawer and said elongated member are extended from and retractedinto said housing- 8. A photographic apparatus as defined. in claim 7wherein said elongated members are operativeto elevate a curtain abovesaid inclined: exposure plane toprevent said fihn unit from engaging:said curtain as a film unit is advanced from said housing. a

9. .A photographic apparatus as definedin claim 7 wherein said drawerincludes a frontwa'll operatively associated with said curtain to forman expand-able front wall of said chamber. 3 I 10. A photographicapparatus comprising:

a housing including a bottom wall; v

means for supporting a filrn unit within saidhousing at an exposureplane disposed at an inclined angle relative to" said bottom wall; g

means for advancing a filmgunit, subsequent to exposure, along saidinclined exposure plane toward the exterior of said housing;

a drawer, extendable from saiduhousing along aplane substantiallyparallel to said bottom wall, for re ceiving a film unit from saidadvancing means, and thereafter retractable into said housing fortransporting a film unit to a storage position therein; elongatedmembers coupled to said drawer and movable along a plane substantiallyparallel to said inclined exposure plane for extending and retractingsaid drawer; and v 1 a curtain operatively associated withsaid drawerand said elongated members for forming anexpandable lighttight chamberaround the path: of travel of afilm unit, said curtain beingmovable bysaid elongated members awayfrom said' drawer to expand the volume ofsaid chamber as said" drawer is extended from said housing and beingmovable toward said drawer as said drawer is retracted into said housingto decrease the volume oi said chamber.

i 11. A photographic apparatus as defined in claim 10 wherein saiddrawer includes a pair of sidewalls whichare adapted to cooperate withsaid elongated members to form expandable side walls of said lighttightchamber. i

12. A photographic apparatus as defined in claim 10 wherein said drawerincludes a front wall operatively associated with said curtain to forman expandable front wall of said chamber.

13. A photographic apparatus as defined in claim further including meanswithin said chamber for biasing a film unit toward said bottom wall ofsaid housing, upon disengagement from said advancing means, to reorientand align a film unit for transport to said storage position within saidhousing.

14. A photographic apparatus as defined in claim 10 wherein saidadvancing means is coupled to said elongated members for reciprocallydriving said expandable chamber between its extended and retractedpositions.

15. Photographic apparatus of the self-developing type comprising:

means for supporting a relatively flat photosensitive element on anexposure plane;

means for distributing a processing composition on an exposedphotosensitive element;

means for carrying an exposed photosensitive element in an expandableprocessing chamber to anand other position within the photographicapparatus;

means for moving an expandable processing chamber including supportmeans having a slot formed therein, said support means being carried bya fixed portion of the photographic apparatus and being movable on asecond plane angularly disposed with respect to the exposure plane, anddrive means operatively associated with said support means and movableon a plane substantially parallelto the exposure plane whereby anexposedphotosensitive element is moved from an exposure position toanother position within the photographic apparatus while beingmaintained in a distortion-free condition, said drive means includingrack means and .pinion means and said rack means comprising at least oneelongated member guided for movement in a direction parallel to theexposure plane while cooperating with said support means for drivingsaid support means along said second plane, the cooperative driveconnection between i said rack means and said support means including apin carried by said rack means and said slot formed in said supportmeans thereby accommodating an angular movement of said rack means withrespect to said support means.

l6. Photographic apparatus of the self-developing type comprising: I

means for supporting a relatively flat photoscnsitiv element on anexposure plane;

means for distributing a processing composition on an exposedphotosensitive element;

means for carrying an exposed photosensitive element in an expandableprocessing chamber to another position within the photographicapparatus; and 4 means for moving an expandable processing chamberincluding support means having at least one slot formed in a portionthereof, said support means being carried by a fixed portion of thephotographic apparatus and being movable on a second plane angularlydisposed with respect .to the exposure plane, and drive meansoperatively associated with said support means and movable on a planesubstantially parallel to the exposure plane whereby an exposedphotosensitive element is moved from an exposure position to anotherposition within the photographic apparatus while being maintained in adistortion-free condition, said drive means including rack means andpinion means said rack means including at least one drive pincooperating with said one slot formed in said portion of said supportmeans so that movement of said support means at an angle relative to thedirection of movement of said drive means is permitted as saidprocessing chamber expands and shrinks during reciprocatingmovementthereof.

1. A photographic apparatus comprising: a housing including a bottom wall; means for supporting a film unit within said housing at an exposure plane disposed at an inclined angle relative to said bottom wall; means for advancing a film unit, subsequent to exposure, along said inclined exposure plane toward the exterior of said housing; means for defining an expandable lighttight chamber adapted to be extended from said housing for receiving a film unit from said advancing means and thereafter to be retracted into said housing for transporting a film unit therewith to a storage position within said housing; and meanS coupling said expandable chamber to said housing for progressively expanding said expandable chamber in a direction substantially normal to said bottom wall as said chamber is extended from said housing to enclose the inclined path of travel of a film unit and for progressively contracting said chamber as said chamber is retracted into said housing to facilitate storage of said chamber within said housing.
 2. A photographic apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the volume of said chamber is at a maximum when said chamber reaches its terminal point of extension from said housing.
 3. A photographic apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the volume of said chamber is at a minimum when said chamber reaches its terminal point of retraction into said housing.
 4. A photographic apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said chamber is configured to include a pair of expandable side walls.
 5. A photographic apparatus as defined in claim 4 wherein said chamber is configured to further include an expandable front wall.
 6. A photographic apparatus comprising: a housing including a bottom wall; means for supporting a film unit within said housing at an exposure plane disposed at an inclined angle relative to said bottom wall; means for advancing a film unit, subsequent to exposure, along said inclined exposure plane toward the exterior of said housing; means for defining an expandable lighttight chamber adapted to be extended from said housing for receiving a film unit from said advancing means and thereafter to be retracted into said housing for transporting a film unit therewith to a storage position within said housing, said means for defining said expandable lighttight chamber including a drawer coupled to said housing for movement along a plane substantially parallel to said bottom wall of said housing and elongated members coupled to said housing for movement along a plane substantially parallel to said inclined exposure plane, said elongated members being operatively associated with said drawer to form expandable side walls of said chamber; and means coupling said expandable chamber to said housing such that it progressively expands as it is extended from said housing to enclose the inclined path of travel of said film unit, and progressively contracts as it is retracted into said housing to facilitate storage of said chamber within said housing.
 7. A photographic apparatus as defined in claim 6 wherein said means for defining said expandable lighttight chamber further includes an opaque curtain supported over said drawer, said curtain being coupled to said elongated members which are operative to vary the distance between said curtain and said drawer as said drawer and said elongated member are extended from and retracted into said housing.
 8. A photographic apparatus as defined in claim 7 wherein said elongated members are operative to elevate a curtain above said inclined exposure plane to prevent said film unit from engaging said curtain as a film unit is advanced from said housing.
 9. A photographic apparatus as defined in claim 7 wherein said drawer includes a front wall operatively associated with said curtain to form an expandable front wall of said chamber.
 10. A photographic apparatus comprising: a housing including a bottom wall; means for supporting a film unit within said housing at an exposure plane disposed at an inclined angle relative to said bottom wall; means for advancing a film unit, subsequent to exposure, along said inclined exposure plane toward the exterior of said housing; a drawer, extendable from said housing along a plane substantially parallel to said bottom wall, for receiving a film unit from said advancing means, and thereafter retractable into said housing for transporting a film unit to a storage position therein; elongated members coupled to said drawer and movable along a plane substantially parallel to said inclined exposure plane for extending and retracting said drawer; and a curtain operatively associated with said drawer and said elongated members for forming an expandable lighttight chamber around the path of travel of a film unit, said curtain being movable by said elongated members away from said drawer to expand the volume of said chamber as said drawer is extended from said housing and being movable toward said drawer as said drawer is retracted into said housing to decrease the volume of said chamber.
 11. A photographic apparatus as defined in claim 10 wherein said drawer includes a pair of side walls which are adapted to cooperate with said elongated members to form expandable side walls of said lighttight chamber.
 12. A photographic apparatus as defined in claim 10 wherein said drawer includes a front wall operatively associated with said curtain to form an expandable front wall of said chamber.
 13. A photographic apparatus as defined in claim 10 further including means within said chamber for biasing a film unit toward said bottom wall of said housing, upon disengagement from said advancing means, to reorient and align a film unit for transport to said storage position within said housing.
 14. A photographic apparatus as defined in claim 10 wherein said advancing means is coupled to said elongated members for reciprocally driving said expandable chamber between its extended and retracted positions.
 15. Photographic apparatus of the self-developing type comprising: means for supporting a relatively flat photosensitive element on an exposure plane; means for distributing a processing composition on an exposed photosensitive element; means for carrying an exposed photosensitive element in an expandable processing chamber to another position within the photographic apparatus; and means for moving an expandable processing chamber including support means having a slot formed therein, said support means being carried by a fixed portion of the photographic apparatus and being movable on a second plane angularly disposed with respect to the exposure plane, and drive means operatively associated with said support means and movable on a plane substantially parallel to the exposure plane whereby an exposed photosensitive element is moved from an exposure position to another position within the photographic apparatus while being maintained in a distortion-free condition, said drive means including rack means and pinion means and said rack means comprising at least one elongated member guided for movement in a direction parallel to the exposure plane while cooperating with said support means for driving said support means along said second plane, the cooperative drive connection between said rack means and said support means including a pin carried by said rack means and said slot formed in said support means thereby accommodating an angular movement of said rack means with respect to said support means.
 16. Photographic apparatus of the self-developing type comprising: means for supporting a relatively flat photosensitive element on an exposure plane; means for distributing a processing composition on an exposed photosensitive element; means for carrying an exposed photosensitive element in an expandable processing chamber to another position within the photographic apparatus; and means for moving an expandable processing chamber including support means having at least one slot formed in a portion thereof, said support means being carried by a fixed portion of the photographic apparatus and being movable on a second plane angularly disposed with respect to the exposure plane, and drive means operatively associated with said support means and movable on a plane substantially parallel to the exposure plane whereby an exposed photosensitive element is moved from an exposure position to another position within the photographic apparatus while being maintained in a distortion-free condition, said drive means including rack means and pinion means said rack means including at least one drive pin cooperating with said one slot formed in said portion of said support means so that movement of said support means at an angle relative to the direction of movement of said drive means is permitted as said processing chamber expands and shrinks during reciprocating movement thereof. 